


confrontations

by constellatory



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, M/M, chie and yukiko have strong opinions, kanji tatsumi is too good for this world, the whole gang gets in on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 02:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6781492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellatory/pseuds/constellatory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yu and Yosuke started dating three days ago. One by one, members of the IT confront each boy about keeping the relationship a secret. Except neither Yu nor Yosuke have any idea how everyone knows, and they're determined to find out. Featuring: a few uncomfortable conversations, some revelations, and one suspected near-death experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	confrontations

Rise was the first to approach him, capturing him by storming into the room as soon as class ended and smacking her palms down onto his desk, putting a stop to his going-home motions before he’d even finished gathering up his books.

“Sen _pai!_ We need to talk!”

Before Yu could even say a word, she’d taken his arm and, with surprising strength, bodily dragged him out of his seat and out into the hallway. Chie, Yukiko, and Yosuke all simply let it happen, too stunned to stop her. Or perhaps they simply didn’t want to get in the way of Risette on a rampage.

For all Yu tried to get a word in edgewise, Rise wouldn’t let him say a thing until she’d pulled them both up onto the roof. And once they were there, she started to speak before he could ask her what was wrong. The look on her face was truly alarming, a mix of indignant, upset, frustrated, a little hurt, and deeply put out.

“When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you _what?”_ Yu asked, more lost than he’d possibly ever been in his life.

“That you and Yosuke-senpai are a thing!”

For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Yu rubbed a hand over his mouth, his gaze skittering off to some vague, leftwards point.

“I wasn’t aware that we were.”

“Don’t you lie to me about this!”

“I...” Yu paused, his shoulders shifting as he completely recalibrated his approach to this conversation, and then dipped his head in a nod that was also a quiet apology. “Sorry. You took me by surprise, that’s all. But how did you...?”

“That’s not the point!” Rise stomped a foot with such force that her hair swung forward over her shoulders. Her face was red. Concerned, Yu started to reach out for her, and was relieved when she allowed him to place gentle hands on her shoulders. The touch seemed to help calm her down, and he could feel the way her lungs expanded her chest with a slow, steadying breath. It was forced, deliberate, but enough to cool some of the pink high in her cheeks.

“... I’m the one that should be sorry,” she said after a moment occupied only by the sighs of the roof’s gentle cross-breezes. “I’m acting like a little kid.”

Yu shook his head, gently brushing her hair back over her shoulders where it belonged. “I’m sure it came as a shock. I’m still not sure how you found out, but I’m glad you came to speak with me. Are you really upset about it?”

“I...” Rise paused, ducking her head and twisting her fingers together. “I like you, senpai.”

In the silence that followed, neither of them moved for a long moment. When Yu dropped his hands from her shoulders, Rise couldn’t bring herself to look up, but she did open her mouth to speak, to try to explain herself, but couldn’t before Yu did something else instead: open his arms to her. With a quiet sound, she fell into him gratefully, and he wrapped her up close against his chest, both arms secure around her back.

“I really do,” she said a little thickly into the warm white cotton of his shirt, her fingers curling into the dark fabric of his jacket. “I have for a long time. I thought... but it’s not like I had a claim on you, either. I think every girl in school has a secret crush on you, senpai.”

The quiet chuckle she could feel more than hear made her bury a wistful smile against his chest.

“Come on, it’s not like that. I did have to let down one other confession... but no one else has approached me.”

“It’s because they know they don’t have a chance!” When he looked down at her with wondering uncertainty, her expression softened, only to swiftly gain an edge of careful teasing. “Not with Risette around, that is!”

For a small space of peace they simply stood there in each other’s arms, drawing on each other’s warmth and comfort. It was nice, like that. Yu, for his part, had known that Rise had _some_ sort of feelings for him. It would have been impossible not to notice. He'd just never really realized how serious they were until now, until she'd nearly ended up in tears over the idea that she wouldn't be the one he'd date. The thought made his chest tighten with a nameless feeling, and he found himself idly stroking her back.

At least, until Rise spoke up with a hint of mischief to her voice.

“So is this how you let down all the girls? With tender embraces? Pretty cold, senpai.”

“Hey, that’s not...”

“I know.” And there was laughter in her eyes when she looked up at him. Yu smiled as he let her go. Things would change between them, there was no avoiding that, but they'd be alright.

“How did you find out, anyway? You never said.”

“We-e-ell...”

 

* * *

 

“Man, I swear these boxes get heavier every day.” Yosuke dropped his latest one on the stack in front of him and then leaned against it with a heavy sigh. “I can’t wait till we can just—”

“So is it trueeeee?”

“What?”

Yosuke paused in his griping, turning around just in time to lean back against his box tower, away from Teddie, who was leaning _into_ his personal space. “Hey, whoa, Ted, what the hell?”

“You and sensei, of course!”

“Look, will you stop that?!” Yosuke slapped a palm on Teddie’s forehead and pushed until the smaller boy was firmly _out_ of his face, then straightened up with an aggravated sigh. “What about us? What are you even talking about?”

“That you’re _dating,_ of course!” Teddie dropped his voice to a conspiratorial hiss, but his grin was as bright as ever. “Don’t even try to deny it! I already sniffed out the truth, rrrrawr!”

“Wh...” Suddenly finding himself a little weak in the everything, Yosuke leaned back against his becoming-quite-crooked tower of boxes again, fixing Teddie with an utterly bemused look, too stunned yet for proper outrage. “We’re... that’s... if you’re so sure it’s true, then why did you even ask me?”

“So it _is_ true?! That’s confirmation? Yosuke and sensei are in _loooooove?!”_

“That didn’t confirm anything!” Yosuke immediately yelped, jumping like he’d been burned and flailing his arm out in a wide, defensive gesture. That gesture smacked right into the already precarious tower of boxes he’d just finished stacking, and with thunderous inevitability, it all came crashing down right on top of him. Both boys were buried with a burst of yelps, cries, and a few creative curses from Yosuke.

“What’s going on back there?” Yosuke was already pulling himself and Teddie out of the mess by the time his father found them, but there was no explaining the mess of scrunched up boxes. A stern lecture and a few minutes of steady, chagrined apologies finally got them both off the hook with nothing more than a few extra hours of overtime.

“Yes, yes, we got it! Sorry!” Yosuke called out in response to one last admonition as his father departed, in his best apologetic worker voice. In an instant he’d turned on Teddie to hiss, “Look, will you just knock it off?! Alright, alright, it’s true! We’re ...  _dating,_ ” he choked out, like his throat didn’t know how to handle the word.

Teddie blinked, pausing in his box-stacking motions and watching Yosuke with sudden bright-eyed thoughtfulness. “Well, you don’t sound very excited about it, Yosuke.”

“It’s not that!” Yosuke was redder than ever. “It’s just... we weren’t... we hadn’t exactly planned on telling the whole world yet or anything! How the hell did you even find out about it?!”

Now Teddie grinned again, placing his box in its proper place before pressing one finger to his lips.

“A bear can never tell his secrets!”

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure you’re alright, Yu-kun? Rise-chan seemed pretty upset back there...”

Yu laughed again, waving off their concerns even as Chie and Yukiko exchanged a look.

“Seriously, it’s alright. I think she’ll be just fine. Rise’s always been pretty tough. Still, it was nice of you both to offer to walk me home.”

“Well... we may have had ulterior motives.” When Yu glanced at Yukiko in surprise, she didn’t look away, even though Chie seemed a little anxious. But before she could continue, Chie burst out with, “What did Rise-chan want to talk to you about that was so important, anyway?!”

“Chie...”

“What?!”

“Something that was bothering her,” Yu said mildly, watching his friends share a more pointed look in what he was sure constituted a private conversation he could never understand. “I don’t think she’d want me to repeat it.”

“Yeah, I bet she wouldn’t,” Chie moaned, hanging her head. “Poor Rise-chan! She must be heartbroken right now.”

“Her feelings were pretty obvious...”

“I know, right?! As for _you!”_ Chie stopped all three of them walking by planting herself, fists firmly on her hips in her signature pose, in the middle of the road directly in front of Yu, who simply stared at her in open surprise.

“How could you do that to her?! More importantly, how could you not _tell_ us?!” She pressed her hands to her chest, her eyebrows knit low over troubled eyes. “Don’t you trust us?”

“We are your friends,” Yukiko said more gently at his side. “We want to know these things about you. Though I guess the blame falls on Yosuke-kun just as much as you.”

“Don’t even talk to me about that guy! He’s gonna get it later.”

“I’d settle for knowing what’s going on,” Yu interjected blandly, finally speaking up and making both girls start in surprise. “I didn’t know either of you two knew, either. What made you think we planned to keep it a secret, anyway? Of course we were going to say something. We just hadn’t made up our minds on how, yet.”

“Oh.” Chie was the first to react, shame creeping up every inch of her frame and making her straighten out her stance while simultaneously bunching up her shoulders and ducking her head. “Heheh... right, of course.”

“Wait, so you’re saying this hasn’t been going on for very long, Yu-kun?”

“Going on,” Yu repeated distantly, looking dazed and a little far away. “No,” he said more clearly. “Yosuke and I only decided on this three days ago.”

“Three  _days?_ Why that lousy—” She stopped and clapped both hands over her mouth, eyes wide, blanching as Yu’s gaze suddenly swung onto her face.

“What was that, Chie?”

 

* * *

 

Once Yosuke got out of work, stressed and utterly wrung out, all he could think of was going home and collapsing on his bed. And possibly locking Teddie out of his room, because the stupid bear would deserve it. But what he found instead was Naoto, waiting patiently beside his bike.

“Naoto-kun?” Yosuke drew up short in surprise, staring at her, and then felt a slow frown overtake his face. Naoto was watching him with a placid smile, her hands folded behind her back.

“No doubt one of the others has gotten to you already. Please, don’t be concerned, Yosuke-senpai. I have no plans on interrogating you.”

Yosuke found himself slumping in relief before those words really sunk in.

“That’s great, so you... wait, then...” With a groan, he gripped his handlebars with one hand and pressed the other to his forehead. “You know, too.”

“I do,” she confirmed solemnly, though a smile still played about her lips. “As I said, I have no plans to interrogate you, or make this any harder. Knowing our friends, you’ll endure plenty of scrutiny as it is. In fact, I’d come to offer to walk you home, and to talk with you, if you’d like.”

“... really?” Yosuke straightened up again, finding himself staring at her. Naoto wasn’t someone he spoke to all that much, being that she was a year below him and tended to spend more time with Yu and the other first years. But he’d always appreciated her level head, and the fact that the two of them had a tendency to find ridiculous the same situations that the rest of the team threw themselves into wholeheartedly, their leader included.

Finding a grateful smile tugging at his lips, Yosuke unlocked his bike and decided to walk it instead of hopping on, nodding his head for Naoto to walk beside him.

“Thanks, Naoto-kun. That’s really kind of you.”

“It’s really no trouble,” she murmured, ducking her chin for a moment. “Once the word got out, it was clear that both you and Yu-senpai would be undergoing quite a bit of hardship. I thought I’d do what I could to mitigate the circumstances.”

“Yeah, but... I mean, not to knock the gesture, I really appreciate it, but why me?” Yosuke was frowning at her thoughtfully as they walked, his fingers drumming on his bike’s handle. “Aren’t you closer to Yu?”

“That’s...” A certain pinkness dusted Naoto’s cheeks, but she lifted her head this time, regarding the purpling sky as twilight started to settle in above them. “... true, but you’re my friend as well, Yosuke-senpai. I don’t take that lightly. I thought you could use a friend who wouldn’t simply ... ‘freak out’ at you.”

“Man...” Yosuke lifted one hand to rub at the back of his neck, and nearly lost control of his bike as the front wheel went askew. After scrambling to get control of it and winning a huff from Naoto that might have been a laugh, he got his bearings and his thoughts back in order. “That’s really cool of you, Naoto-kun. But, I mean... seriously, how did everyone even find out? We haven’t been...” His shoulders bunched up, and he glanced away.

“To be honest, I’ve suspected for some time now that you and Yu-senpai might have had feelings for each other. Of course, it wasn’t my place to say anything about it. But once the news got out, I thought it best to come forward with my knowledge.”

“The _news?”_ Now Yosuke _did_ look at her, his bewilderment tinged with indignation. “Teddie made it sound the same way. Did we show up on some kind of hidden camera show and I missed it?”

Naoto cleared her throat gently, covering her mouth with the side of a curled fist.

“Well, that’s...”

 

* * *

 

`(552): r u gettin all this man`

`(1-552): yeah.`

`(552): srsly, wat the hell??`

`(552): this is soo uncool`

`(552): tho naoto-kun was rly nice about it`

`(1-552): well, i found out the culprit behind our little mystery.`

`(552): WAT??`

`(552): you have 2 tell me`

`(552): wait`

`(552): shit`

`(552): ok nvm it has 2 wait`

`(1-552): yosuke?`

`(552): gimme like 10 min`

`(552): kanjis here`

`(1-552): oh.`

`(1-552): good luck, yosuke.`

 

* * *

 

“This is where I leave you, Yosuke-senpai.”

He found it very gracious of her that she was paying no mind to the way he’d blanched or pulled up short when they’d arrived at Yosuke’s house to find Kanji skulking outside, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched. Yosuke swallowed hard just once and nodded.

“Th... thanks for walking me back, Naoto-kun. I know it was out of the way for you. See you tomorrow?”

She watched him for a moment with an inscrutable expression that, for a startling moment, reminded him powerfully of Yu. Then she smiled.

“Yes, of course.” For a second then, she paused, as if she’d say something more. But her eyes tracked to Kanji, and they looked at each other. Something unspoken passed between them, and Naoto let her eyes fall shut over a gentler smile. With nothing further to say, she simply gave Yosuke a somewhat formal nod and took her leave.

Yosuke didn’t have the heart to wonder what marvel of telepathic communication had just taken place before him. All he could think about was the fact that he was about to die. Probably. Since, if he was honest with himself, he’d never been all that nice to Kanji about his, uh, presumed sexuality. And really, that was a pretty charitable way of looking at it.

He took his sweet time locking up his bike, thinking back on — and wincing over — the camping trip, and other throwaway comments he’d made over the months. Yu would probably say something like it was just his way of expressing he was uncomfortable with his own sexuality, which ... was probably true? He hadn’t really put a lot of thought into it. At least, not yet. It was something he’d have to think about later, when he wasn’t about to have the life beat out of him by someone who richly deserved the chance to do so.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Yosuke turned and walked towards Kanji like a man walking towards his own execution: very stiffly, with his back ramrod straight. He swallowed just once, hard. Kanji stared down at him with what, to Yosuke, looked like an expression of severe disapproval.

“So what’s this I’ve been hearing about you and Yu-senpai?” Kanji grated out, pressing one fist into the palm of his other hand. He was frowning, his brow drawn low, and Yosuke was suddenly, terrifyingly reminded that his junior was a lot taller than him.

“That’s— it’s just, uh...” Wow, he was not at all proud of the way his voice just cracked.

“’s it true?”

“Iiiiis what true? You might, uh, have to be more specific! There’s a lot of things you could be talking about, you know. Like, uh—”

“What the hell’re you talking about?” Kanji’s frown turned even more severe, and Yosuke found himself quailing under its force. “I’m talking about the two of you dating, what else!”

“Y... yeah.” Defeat crept into Yosuke’s voice as he straightened up. If he was going to die, he was at least going to do it like a man. On his feet, standing tall. Maybe they’d say nice things about him at the funeral. “Yeah, it’s true.”

“Huh.” Kanji looked thoughtful for a moment, lifting a hand to rub his chin. “Alright.”

“... alright? Wait, you’re not ... mad?”

“Mad?” Now Kanji actually _did_ look indignant, and Yosuke found himself wondering what the hell had been going on this entire time. Had he been reading Kanji wrong from the very start? Had the disapproval just been thoughtfulness? Maybe those frowns had just been considering looks... “What the hell would I be mad about, senpai? I mean, s’got nothing to do with me. You guys are happy, right?”

“I mean— yeah, but... that’s not— look, it’s just, you seemed kind of upset when I walked over here.”

“Upset? Nah, I was just thinkin’ about stuff.” Dammit. Yosuke really _had_ screwed up his approach to this whole thing.

“Stuff?” At least with the threat of his imminent demise seemingly off the table, Yosuke felt a lot more relaxed, and also found himself a lot more curious about why Kanji was here in the first place. If he hadn’t come here to kick Yosuke’s ass for being such a goddamn hypocrite about everything he’d ever said, then why _was_ he here? “Stuff like what?”

“You know, it’s just...” Kanji paused, sighing through his nose and lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. “I admire you guys. Following your hearts, and screw what anybody else thinks!” The end of the sentence burst out of him with a yell and a sharp gesture, and Yosuke found himself taking a step back, his hands raised placatingly. Before he could say a word, Kanji kept talking.

“That’s the sort of guy I wanna be, you know? Just be myself. But something like this, man. I don’t know if I could do it. I was just thinking it over and over, whether I could put myself out there like you guys have, and it was just _bothering_ me. So I thought maybe if I came to talk to you I could work all this shit in my head out.”

Yosuke had no idea what to say. Not only had Kanji _not_ come here to kick his ass, he’d come here for pretty much the exact _opposite_ reason. Because he looked _up_ to Yosuke, somehow...?

Never in his life had Yosuke felt like such an asshole.

“Dude, Kanji...” The wretchedness in Yosuke’s voice got Kanji to look up, a little startled. “Man... you shouldn’t be thinking anything like that. I’m not brave, or ... something awesome like that. If anyone’s like that, it’s Yu. He’s the one you should be looking up to. As for me... I’m just a jerk.”

“Yosuke-senpai, what’re you—”

“No, seriously. You need to hear me out. Look, Kanji, I’m sorry. I owe you like a hundred apologies for all the shit I’ve said ever since the bathhouse. It’s like I didn’t know how to do anything _but_ pick on you. That was so uncool of me I’m not sure an apology really makes up for it, but it’s where I’ve got to start.”

For a moment, the two boys just stared at each other. Then they opened their mouths to speak at the same time.

“And—”

“Yosuke-senpai—”

Both paused.

“Wait, let me finish—”

“Look, just hang on a second, alright?” The smile on Kanji’s face could only be described as fondly exasperated, and was just about the only thing that could stop the flow of words that wanted to pour from Yosuke’s mouth at that moment.

“Thanks, senpai. That’s pretty big of you. But it’s cool, you know? Not like I ever held that shit against you.”

“Yeah, well, you should have.” But Yosuke was smiling too, with a crooked ruefulness that turned his expression just shy of sweet. “I’d’ve blamed me.”

“That’s cuz you’re a jerk.”

“Kanji, hey!”

“You’re the one that said it!”

Yosuke considered that for a second, folding his arms over his chest and trying to look thoughtful. He failed when a grin took over his mouth instead.

“... yeah, that’s true.”

 

* * *

 

`(552): kanji mite actually b the chillest person we kno`

`(1-552): i’m pretty sure he is. things went okay?`

`(552): yeah`

`(552): defnitly`

`(552): how bout u partnr?`

`(1-552): i got interrogated twice. chie and yukiko cornered me together.`

`(552): o man`

`(552): ouch`

`(552): and ur still intact??`

`(1-552): i managed to defuse the situation before chie could dragon kick me into the sun.`

`(552): dude`

`(552): idk how u do it`

`(552): ur like the girl whisperer`

`(1-552): i’m a man of the world, yosuke.`

`(552): teach me ur ways, sensei`

`(1-552): is that an invitation? ;)`

`(552): dude, shut up!!`

`(1-552): you sort of walked right into it.`

`(552): wat did i JUST say abt shutting up`

`(1-552): ...`

`(552): wat?`

`(1-552): ...`

`(552): omg`

`(1-552): ...`

`(552): dude wat did i make u mad`

`(1-552): you told me to shut up.`

`(552): omfg`

`(552): narukami i swear 2 god`

`(1-552): :)`

`(552): LOOK`

`(552): we r gettin off track here`

`(552): u never told me who our culprit was`

 

* * *

 

_Three days prior:_

“Phew!”

Teddie swept an arm over his brow, beaming proudly down at the last row of cans he’d just set out. He’d been hauling box after box for what felt like _years_...he would have started to wilt if he had to do this for much longer! But it was all done, and he felt pret-ty proud of himself. The whole aisle looked absolutely perfect, thanks to his tireless efforts.

You know, if he thought about it, he deserved a reward for doing such an excellent job with this particular display. Picking up the box he’d just finished emptying out, he got to his feet and headed off towards the stock room, humming on his way there. Maybe he could bug Yosuke into giving him a reward for all of his hard work. After all, he deserved it today! Surely  _one_ small little box of Topsicles couldn't hurt, could it? Not when he'd been so diligent! Thinking hard on exactly how he'd phrase his request to get Yosuke to give in, he didn't notice the voices in furious, low-pitched argument until his hand was on the door handle.

“Huh? Is that ... sensei and Yosuke? Are they fighting about something?”

But with the door shut, he couldn't hear what they were saying. With curiosity overwhelming him, Teddie very carefully twisted the handle and eased the door open.

“—nything to talk about, dammit! That was just—”

“Just _what?”_

“Would you stop— Just _nothing,_ alright?!”

Their voices really were raised. Teddie couldn’t really think of a time he’d ever heard sensei and Yosuke argue like this. They genuinely sounded angry at each other. From his vantage point peeking in through his crack in the door, he couldn’t see them very well; just a piece of sensei’s shoulder and a slim portion of Yosuke’s face, twisted up in what looked like unhappiness. Carefully, Teddie eased the door open a little more. Neither boy in the room seemed to notice.

“This isn’t nothing, Yosuke.”

“The hell it isn’t! Can’t we just pretend nothing happened? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to screw up everything just because of one little—”

“Why are you so convinced this will screw everything up? Why can’t you just take a risk for once?!”

“Because—! Because I don’t _know,_ alright?!”

Sensei didn’t say anything after that, and even though Teddie couldn’t see his face, even he could guess how sensei must have been feeling. He could see it on Yosuke’s face, too. His friend suddenly looked a lot less angry and a little worried and upset, instead. Emotions like this could still be hard for him to figure out, and keeping up with these quick shifts was tough. But now that he’d started watching, Teddie was feeling worried, too. Should he maybe say something, and try to calm them both down...?

“I just... I don’t know what’s right anymore, Yu. I don’t know if I’m ready for something like this...”

“Yosuke...” Sensei’s voice became quiet, too, and Teddie found himself straining to hear. “... you’re not the only one who’s nervous. We’ll be doing this together, no matter what happens.”

“Partner...”

The longer he watched, the stronger a suspicion Teddie had that he wasn’t watching a fight after all... really, this felt more like...

He wasn’t even able to finish the thought to its obvious conclusion before he saw sensei leaning in, lifting a hand to Yosuke’s shoulder, and Yosuke’s eyes shutting as he tilted his chin up. They were... this was...

_... a love scene!_

Carefully, very quietly, with his free hand pressed over his mouth, Teddie shut the door again.

Yosuke and sensei... they were _dating?!_

Did the others know about this?

 

* * *

 

`(1-552): oh.`

`(1-552): it was teddie.`

`(552): WAT`

`(552): IM GONNA MURDER THAT BEAR`

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not, this fic has been in my WIPs folder since November of last year. I've only very recently gotten around to working on it again, and I think the disjointedness sort of shows. That said, I'm still fond of it, and I wanted to get it posted before I started posting chapters (!) for my next work. 
> 
> Yosuke and Kanji talking about what a jerk Yosuke is has only been addressed about one billion times, but I wanted to tackle it in my own way.
> 
> As always, feel free to say hi over on my [tumblr](http://thievishly.tumblr.com/). I love talking to you guys!
> 
> How about the latest P5 trailer, by the way? I think I might spontaneously combust from the hype.


End file.
